rosaire

Rosaire is the French term for the rosary, a Catholic devotional practice that uses a string of beads to count recurring prayers. The word rosary comes from the Latin rosarium, via Old French, historically meaning a garland of roses and by extension the beads used to count the prayers. In ordinary French usage, rosaire designates both the physical rosary and the prayer sequence performed with it.

The standard rosary consists of an opening prayer and creed, followed by five decades of prayers. Each decade contains one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory Be, with the decades separated by small beads. Beads help the practitioner keep track of the prayers while meditating on the mysteries. Meditations on the mysteries guide the reflection during the recitation, traditionally organized into the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries, with the Luminous mysteries added by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

As a proper noun, Rosaire also occurs as a surname in French-speaking communities and may appear in geographical names or historical records. The use of Rosaire as a place name is uncommon and varies by region. In general, the term Rosaire should be distinguished from the English word rosary and from its French-language usage referring to the devotional object and related practices.